Mechanical starter for gas motors or internal-combustion engines



E. C. HOWARD. I

MECHANICAL STARTER FOR GAS MOTORS 0R INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.APPLICATlON FILED MAR. 17. 1920.

1,406,() 1 Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Q 1 b N a E k m \N R 2 S n E 1N D 5. *5 OEQ Q E n Q Ks.

m S: Q n 0 v I '3 [l as a; s n gl I Q Q Q 51mm lilafloward wi bvwoo a E.C. HOWARD. MECHANICAL STARTER FOR GAS MOTORS 0R INTERNAL COMBUSTIONENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 17, I920.

Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

M o I, d I a L M r I W m 3 a v 3 Q N 3 G 1 Q Q\ Q QN I a nu mm mm ww m ww G RON A E. c. HOWARD. MECHANICAL STARTER FOR GAS MOTORS 0R INTERNALCOMBUSTION ENGINES.

APPLICATION HLED MAR. 17, 1920. 1,406,018.

EIWMM E.6.'.Howard- Patented Feb. 7 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCZE.

ELDON o. HOWARD, on Tim PLAINS, oHIo, ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF To JOHNHAMER, or THE PLAINS, oHio.

MECHANICAL STARTER roR GAS MOTORS on INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Application filed March 17,

with the electric starters operated from storage batteries or currentgenerated by the operation of the motor, and whichcan be convenientlycontrolled from the chauffeurs or drivers seat after being wound eithermanually or from the motor shaft, all of the parts being housed beneaththe hood or bonnet of the motor and carried by the frame whereby tofairly protect it and to prevent an unsightly appearance to the car.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanical starter ofthe class decribed which is operated by a spring, having novel means forwinding the same manually or from the motor shaft, and novel means forholding the spring out of gear and againstmovement or rotation until itis desired torelease the same for turning the crank shaft of the motorwhen it is desired to start the latter, the device also. including novelmeans whereby the spring may, be wound or operatively connected to themotor shaftfor starting the latter under the tension and by theunwinding of the spring, which parts are capable of convenient'controland manipulation without the necessity'of leaving the drivers seat. r

,Vith the above and other objects .in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the-invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understoodthat within the scope of whatis claimed, changes in the precise embodiment of the invention shown canbe made without departing from the spirit of the invention. 7

Inaccompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the front por- Specifieation of LettersPatent.

Patented Feb. 7,1922.

1920. Serial No. 366,470.

tion of the frame or chassis of an automobile having the improved.starter applied thereto; I

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sec tional view;

Figure 3 is a front elevation showing diagrammatically, the gearingarrangement employed for winding and starting the spring and motorrespectively; A

F iguree is a sectional view taken centrally Referring to the drawingsin detail, in

which like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views, there is shown the front portion 10 of the frame or'chassis of an automobile having the usual dash 11, hood or bonnet 12 anddash cowl 13, beneath which isarranged the flooring or foot board 14,which may be of the usual or any preferred construction. The frame ispreferably provided with the ordinary'side'portions and with the frontportion 15, while intermediately, there is arranged a cross member 16,both the front portion and the cross member being preferably verticallyarranged as shown. The motor shaft is designated at 1 7 and is rotatablymounted in the usual manner in association with the motor, this shaftbeing the crank shaft of the engine which is provided with a fly wheel18 in the ordinary way and which may be rotatably mountedin a bearing'19 carried by across member 20 arranged between the sides of the frame.The

forward end of the crank or motor shaft is provided with a clutchhead orother suitable device 21 for the application of a crank for starting themotor by hand or manually by turning over the crank shaft of the enginein the usual way.

Arranged in the rear of the front portion 1 5 is a cross member 22designed to slidably support, for transverse movement, a bearing 23having an upright portion which rotatably carries the pinion 25 movableinto mesh with a pinion 24 on the shaft 29. The

portion 23 constitutes the base of the bearing which is movabletransversely of the frame and longitudinally of the cross mem ber 22,while said bearing also includes a Vertical portion 26 carrying the stubshaft and disposed at the front portion of the bearing or bearing block23 as clearly shown in the drawings. The vertical portion 26 is adaptedfor movement longitudinally of the frame or forwardly'and rearwardlytoward and away from the bearing proper at the front face thereof, andfor'this purpose, is

provided with a pair of apertures 27 engaged by pins 28 projectingforwardly at right angles from the bearing block so that the verticalportion may slide thereon. Of course, it is to be understood that thevertical portion may be otherwise suitably mounted fol-sliding movementin a horizontal plane independently of or simultaneously with thebearing block proper and carried thereby or otherwise, as will behereinafter.

more particularly specified.

/ The engine or crank shaft 17 extends longitudinally of the frame,intermediately between the sides thereof, while positioned at one sidethereof and parallel thereto, is an auxiliary or winding shaft 29 whichis rotatably mounted in the bearing sleeve 30 of the bearing portion 26and a bearing 31 carried bythe cross member 20, there being a collar orenlargement 32 on the shaft 29 between said bearing 31 and an inwardlyextending bracket secured to the ad acent i the frame and the outer endof the bearing block 23. On the projecting portion of the shaft 29 is apinion 36 which has formed therewith, a clutch member 37 forming afriction clutch in cooperation-with the wall of a recess 38 in the rearface of a mutilated gear 39 which is keyed to slide on the shaft and torotate therewith, as indicated at 40.

The gear is held rearwardly displaced to. normally hold the clutch inengagement and the gear in mesh with the pinion 24 as by means of anexpansible spring 41 positioned between the gear and aremovable enlarge-,ment or screw head 42 the shank ofwhich threadedly engages an aperturein the forward end of the shaft 29 as indicated at 43 whereby adjustmentof the tension of the spring 41 can be obtained. 7 As shown, the

mutilated gear has diametrically opposite cut-out portions or recesses44 so that the intermediate gear teeth will engage the pinion.24 to turnthe motor shaft upon the spring 34 actuating the gear as will be here- 7moved out of mesh with respect thereto against the action of'the spring41, the

pinions 25 and 36 remaining in mesh at all times. In order to accomplishthis, there is connected to the bearing, the forward end of an operatingrod 44, the rear end' thereof extending to the dash for slidablemovement as indicated at 45 where it is provided with an adjustableenlargement 46 between which and the dash is disposed an expansiblespring 47 serving to normally shift the bearing rearwardly but adaptedwhen compressed by pressure on the enlargement, to permit the rod 44 tolfae 1moved forwardly for the purpose speciiec.

At the rear end of the shaft 29 there is mounted a ratchet. wheel 48having a pair of ratchet teeth 49 diametrically opposite and adjacentlaterally projecting pins 50 at the rear face thereof slightly spacedfrom the shoulders of the teeth, and the shaft 29 also engages a bearing51.' Pivotally mounted on the cross-member 16 of the framevis a pawl 52preferably of channel-shaped cross-section, the pivot thereof beingdesignated at 53 and having mounted thereon,

a spring 54, the ends of which are engaged "with the cross member 16 andwith the arm 55 of the pawl, as indicated at 56 and 57, so that theoperative end of the pawl will be held toward the ratchet wheel. Thepawl is provided with theprojectio'n 58, the top of which is adapted toengage the shoulders of the ratchet teeth while the projection 58 has aninclined or beveled portion 59 and a 1 recess 60 open to permit movementof the pins 50 therethrough but adapted to raisethe pawl by engagementwith said beveled portion inthe revers direction of rotation of theratchet wheel; As before stated, the

pawl is normally held into engagement with i I 1 the teeth of theratchet wheel'to prevent rotation of the shaft 29 under the tension of'the spring 34 and in order to release the;

pawl, there'is provided a depressible mem ber 61 which operatesvertically throughthe floor or foot board 14 and is heldupwardlydisplaced by an expansible spring 62 mounted between said foot board andan enlargemesh with the pinion 24, first starting the motor by the crankin the usual way. The operation of the motor will therefore rotate thepinions 24, 25 and 36, the shaft 29, and the ratchet wheel, and duringthis operation the pawl will prevent reverse rotation, thus holding thespring 34 wound. When the spring has been wound to the desiredextent,the clutch will slip, and then the rod 44 is released whereby thesprings 41 and 47 will act to return the gears to normal positions. Tostart the motor after the spring 34 has been wound, it is only necessaryto depress the pawl to disengage the operative end thereof from theratchet wheel, thus permitting the shaft 29 to rotate under the actionof the spring 34 whereby the gear 39 will be rotated in mesh with thepinion 24 to turn the motor shaft and start the motor. This movement isintermittent, and may be accomplished quickly by depressing. andreleasing the rod 61 through the medium of the threaded adjustable heador button 63 thereof, the pawl acting to limit the rotation of the shaftunder the action of the winding spring. 7 One partial rotation of theshaft 29 while the half portion of the gear 39 is in mesh with thepinion 24 will ordinarily be sufficient to start the motor but thisoperation may be continued if starting is a little difficult as in coldweather. Thus, it will be seen that sufficient power may be stored up inthe spring to start the motor a number of times with little expense andupkeep cost. Also, by reason of the spring 35, the gears will beprevented from being mutilated, thereby acting as a safety deviceproviding the cogs or pinions become locked or centered with one toothengaging the other. Of course, when the gear 39 is partially rotated,one of'the recesses 44 will be disposed adjacent to the pinion 24,thereby preventing further rotation and conserving the power of thespring 34 of the starting device. If however, the teeth of the gear 39should be in mesh with the pinion 34 when the motor is started, theclutch will give sufiiciently to permit the gear to slip therebypreventing mutilation or stripping of the gears.

Having thus described the invention what i claim is:

i. A mechanical starter for internal combustion engines, comprising thecombination with the shaft thereof and a pinion mounted thereon, of aspring shaft, a spring on said shaft adapted to be wound for causingrotation of the shaft in one direction, a shiftable bearing cooperablewith the spring shaft, a gear carried by thespring shaft adapted to bebrought into engagement with the pinion for rotating the latter when thespring is permitted to act, a pinion on the spring shaft and clutched tothe gear, another pinion rotatably carried by the bearing betweenholding means.

the first and secondnamed pinions for operatlvely connecting the same,sald bearing being adapted to be shifted for bringing I 2. A starter forgas engines, comprising a shaft, a spring wound on said shaft and havingone end connected to the shaft and the other end held against movement,a gear carried by the spring shaft and having mutilated portions adaptedto cause intermittent engagement of the gear with the pinion when thespring shaft is permitted to act under the tension of the spring, saidgear being slidable on the shaft, means to slide said gear, a pair ofmeshing pinions one of which is mounted on the spring shaft and theother of which is adapted to be brought in mesh with the first-namedpinion whereby the spring shaft may be rotated when the motor shaft isoperating to wind the spring, a clutch member connecting the pinion onthe spring shaft with the gear on the spring shaft and permitting one toslip with respect to the other, a ratchet device associated with thespring shaft for permitting intermittent partial rotation thereof,

and means for releasing said ratchet device and permittingthe returnthereof to operative position after the spring. shaft has partiallyrotated.

3. A starter of the class described comprising the combination with theframe of an automobile and its motor shaft; of a bearing mounted fortransverse slidable movement and normally held inwardl displaced withrespect to one side of the rame, a longitudinally movable bearingportion carried by said bearing, means for shifting the same andreturning the same to a normal position, a gear having mutilatedportions, a shaft mounted for rotation parallelto the motor shaft, aspring wound thereon and tending to turn said second shaft in onedirection, said gear being keyed on said spring shaft, a pinion free onsaid spring shaft and having a clutch member cooperating with a clutchmember on the gear whereby both will turn together under frictionbetween the clutch members, spring means capable of adjustment to holdsaid clutch members in engagement and the gear wheel in mesh with thepinion first-named, a ratchet wheel on the spring shaft, a pawlcooperating therewith to hold the spring shaft against turning,foot-operated means for releasingthe last-named means to permit theshaft to turn under the action of the spring, and a pinion rotatablycarried by the longitudinally movable bearing portion between and inmesh with the second-named pinion and the first-named pinion wherebyupon the bearing portion being shifted to dispose the last-named pinionin mesh with the first-named pinion, said spring shaft may be rotatedfrom the motor.

4. The combination with an engine shaft; of an auxiliary shaft journaledparallel thereto at one side of the same, a spring connected with saidauxiliary shaft and adapted to be wound by rotation of the lat-- ter inone direction and thereafter acting to drive said shaft in the oppositedirection, a pluralityof gear connections between the shafts andslidably supported to be alternately thrown into and out of operationwhereby the second-shaft may be rotated continuously from thefirst-shaft, said gear connections including a mutilated gear forintermittently and partially rotating the first-shaft from the secondshaft, means normally holding the gear means in one position whereby thespring shaft may be permitting partial rotation thereof only,

and means operable from the drivers seat to release the pawl from theratchet wheel whereby the engine shaft maybepartially rotated from thespring shaft.

In testimony that I claim the foregoingas my own, I have heretoafiixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

lVitnesses JoHN J. WooLLnY, FFA. BIEHL.

ELDON o. HOWARD. j

